NCVPS Now

[pinned post] 2021-2022 Registration is Open – Visit our 2021-2022 Academic Year page for all our registration details. We also have a Summer Session Guide for you. Do you need a yearlong or Early Start section that we don’t currently offer? Submit a request through our Virtual Support Center. We’ll see if we can make that happen.

[pinned post] Partnership Course Program – We supply the courses. Schools supply the teachers! Visit our Partnership Course Program page for all the details on this new program.

[pinned post] Digital Transition Webinars – Visit our Digital Transition web page to find resources and register for upcoming webinars! We have something for everyone, and you can stream our completed webinars.

[pinned post] NCVPS Lunch-Hour Office Hours – The Outreach and Support team is hosting virtual office hours Monday-Friday at noon each day. Drop in anytime from 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. with your questions. Visit our NCVPS Lunch Hour page to access the meeting.

[pinned post] Teacher Online Training Course – Prepare your teachers for success in the online learning environment. Register for our free NCVPS Teacher Online Training course.  See all the details on our registration page.  Visit our Teacher Online Training page for details and registration.

February 8, 2022

NCVPS has a mobile app, and Canvas has two mobile apps and a web portal. What does each one do? We’re glad you asked! Here you go:

NCVPS App: Stay connected with what’s happening at NCVPS. Think of these as “front office” notifications.

Canvas Apps and Web Portal: Connect with a student’s course, see grades, due dates, pacing guides, and message the teacher.

Check out the guide on our Mobile Apps page to see when and where it’s best to use each app or portal.

Student Information

Please do not send personal student information through email per FERPA guidelines. If you need to communicate personal student information to the NCVPS teachers or staff, please open a help ticket with that information. Our Virtual Support center is a secured environment approved by state IT for personal student information.

Teacher Online Training Course

Check out NCVirtual’s Teacher Online Training course!

Our next cohort dates are Feb. 14 and March 21. It’s free, and participants can earn 2 CEUs! Please share with teachers in your school. Participants will learn valuable online instructional practices for the virtual, blended, and remote environments.

Professional Development

Did you know you have access to FREE professional development courses (available to all NC Public and Charter School Teachers/Administrators) through IAM/NCEdCloud?

Follow these simple steps to access our course directory:

• Log in to your IAM/NCEdCloud account
• Click on the “blue P” to access NCEES
• Click the Professional Development link on the top menu

This path will take you to a wide variety of FREE courses available to you. Check them out today! All courses are self-enrolled and self-paced.

You may also visit NCVPS’ Professional Learning page for additional information on accessing our FREE professional development.

Enrollment Options

We can help schools with enrollments throughout the semester. Even after our regular enrollment period ended, we have these options available after Feb. 2:

Transfer Students – We begin accepting transfer students after our regular enrollment has ended. Transfer students must be enrolled in the class at the face-to-face school and have a grade to transfer in with. Transfers are not for students new to the course. We must also have an available seat in the course to accommodate the transfer request. Open a ticket with our Virtual Support Center to begin the transfer process. Be sure to include the following in your ticket:

• student’s name
• PowerSchool ID#
• school name
• transfer grade
• course needed
• any student details that can help the NCVPS teacher

Transfer options will remain open through midterms each semester.

OCS and Co-Teaching Enrollments – You can still enroll OCS and co-taught students into your existing OCS and co-teaching sections. We can’t open new OCS or co-teaching sections for schools, though.

Special Requests – Not everything fits into a box. If you have a special situation that falls outside our enrollment window, open a ticket with our Virtual Support Center. Give us all the details, and we will see what we can do!

Next Semester – Registration for 2022-2023 will open in late March. Stay tuned for details!

Funding – If you use all of your allotments and still need to enroll, contact us. You can request access to NCVPS reserve funds after you’ve exhausted your allotments.

February 1, 2022

Parent Contact Information 

NCVPS tasks its teachers to have regular communications with the parents or guardians of their students. However, our teachers often find the contact information in PowerSchool is not accurate. Please help our teachers find update-to-date parent contact information. Our teachers will be reaching out to you, as we rely on schools to provide that information. We are sure your school will need current parent contact information, too!

Teacher Online Training Course

Check out NCVirtual’s Teacher Online Training course!

Our next cohort dates are Feb. 14 and March 21. It’s free and participants can earn 2 CEUs! Please share with teachers in your school. Participants will learn valuable online instructional practices for the virtual, blended, and remote environments.

Drop/Add Extended

We are extending our Standard Start drop/add period until Wednesday, Feb 2. We know a number of districts have had their school operations disrupted with inclement weather and COVID precautions. This has prevented many students from accessing their courses.

Here are our updated drop/add dates:

• First Day of Early Start Classes: January 5
• Last Day to Drop for Early Start: January 19
• Last Day to Add for Early Start: January 31
• First Day of Standard Start Classes: January 18
• Last Day to Drop/Add for Standard Start: February 2

No-Show Report

We will post an updated Standard Start No-Show report in our registration system on Feb. 1. This report is an early warning notification that identifies students who have not logged into their courses during the first week of classes. We realize some students are registered the same day we generate the report, and they’ve not had a chance to log in yet. That’s not an issue. Other reasons can be problematic, however. If students fail to log in for any of the following reasons, the school should take action:

• Do not know their username/password
• Unsure how to log in
• Unaware they are registered
• Do not intend to take the course
• Registered by mistake

Please make contact with students (and their parents) who have not logged in. Determine the next steps for them. Sometimes, students need help getting started, and then they are good from there. If you confirm that the student is not going to take the course, please drop them from the course in the registration system. This will help other students move off the waitlist.

NC Career Connections Series

The NC Career Connections Series is open to the public. Please share with any students at your school who may be interested.

 

January 26, 2022

We are extending our Standard Start drop/add period until Wednesday, Feb 2. We know a number of districts have had their school operations disrupted with inclement weather and COVID precautions. This has prevented many students from accessing their courses.

Here are our updated drop/add dates:

• First Day of Early Start Classes: January 5
• Last Day to Drop for Early Start: January 19
• Last Day to Add for Early Start: January 31
• First Day of Standard Start Classes: January 18
• Last Day to Drop/Add for Standard Start: February 2

No-Show Report

We will post an updated Standard Start No-Show report in our registration system on Feb. 1. This report is an early warning notification that identifies students who have not logged into their courses during the first week of classes. We realize some students are registered the same day we generate the report, and they’ve not had a chance to log in yet. That’s not an issue. Other reasons can be problematic, however. If students fail to log in for any of the following reasons, the school should take action:

• Do not know their username/password
• Unsure how to log in
• Unaware they are registered
• Do not intend to take the course
• Registered by mistake

Please make contact with students (and their parents) who have not logged in. Determine the next steps for them. Sometimes, students need help getting started, and then they are good from there. If you confirm that the student is not going to take the course, please drop them from the course in the registration system. This will help other students move off the waitlist.

Student Help

If students need help getting started, do the following:

• Be sure to give them their usernames and passwords.
• Make sure they are logging in at the NCVirtual Canvas login page.
• Direct them to our Getting Started as an NCVirtual Student page.

Enrollment Options

We can help schools with enrollments throughout the semester. Even after our regular enrollment period ended, we have these options available after Feb. 2:

Transfer Students – We begin accepting transfer students after our regular enrollment has ended. Transfer students must be enrolled in the class at the face-to-face school and have a grade to transfer in with. Transfers are not for students new to the course. We must also have an available seat in the course to accommodate the transfer request. Open a ticket with our Virtual Support Center to begin the transfer process. Be sure to include the following in your ticket:

• student’s name
• PowerSchool ID#
• school name
• transfer grade
• course needed
• any student details that can help the NCVirtual teacher

Transfer options will remain open through midterms each semester.

OCS and Co-Teaching Enrollments – You can still enroll OCS and co-taught students into your existing OCS and co-teaching sections. We can’t open new OCS or co-teaching sections for schools, though.

Special Requests – Not everything fits into a box. If you have a special situation that falls outside our enrollment window, open a ticket with our Virtual Support Center. Give us all the details, and we will see what we can do!

Next Semester – Registration for 2022-2023 will open in late March. Stay tuned for details!

Funding – If you use all of your allotments and still need to enroll, contact us. You can request access to NCVirtual reserve funds after you’ve exhausted your allotments.

January 18, 2022

Welcome to NCVirtual

If you missed last week’s welcome message to our school e-learning advisors, please see our Welcome to NCVirtual – Spring 2022 message now. We have some important tips to get you started!

NCVirtual Open House

We host online open house events throughout the year. These events are open to both current and prospective students and parents. School personnel new to our program are invited to attend, as well. We have two upcoming events:

• January 25 at 6 p.m.
• January 27 at 11 a.m.

See our Open House page for registration details, and please share with parents.

Closings and Delays

If your district or school is impacted by closures due to inclement weather or COVID-19, see our School Closings and Delays – January 2022 announcement.

New to NCVirtual?

If you are new to NCVirtual, check out our Just-in-Time Matrix. We have something for everyone!

January 11, 2022

Greetings, North Carolina Schools!

This announcement is for school e-learning advisors (ELAs). You are the primary contact for teachers and staff, and we need your help with a few items.

Contact Information

School ELAs should make sure their contact information in the NCVirtual registration system is correct. If you are no longer serving in the ELA role, please have the new ELA update the contact page in our registration system. Our teachers will need school contact information right away. See our Updating ELA Contact Information guide for help. 

Important Dates

Mark your calendars! We have these important dates for you:

• First Day of Early Start Classes: January 5
• Last Day to Drop for Early Start: January 19
• Last Day to Add for Early Start: January 31 (extended date)
• First Day of Standard Start Classes: January 18
• Last Day to Drop/Add for Standard Start: January 31

E–lert Subscription

We regularly send news and updates to schools and districts in our NCVirtual E–lert. Subscribe here. 

NCVirtual Open House

We host online open house events throughout the year. These events are open to both current and prospective students and parents. School personnel new to our program are invited to attend, as well. We have two upcoming events:

• January 25 at 6 p.m.
• January 27 at 11 a.m.

See our Open House page for registration details, and please share with parents. 

Getting Started

Please visit our Getting Started Page for Schools page for all your resources, and direct students to our Getting Started as an NCVirtual Student on or before the first day of class. Parents can check out our Parent Resource Center. 

E-learning Advisor Orientation

We have a new E-learning Advisor Orientation course. This course will help support you in the role of E-Learning Advisor to NC Virtual students. Learn about the funding formula, the registration process, our grading policy, and how to best support your online students. You can access the course 24/7.

Professional Development

Our Digital Transition webinar series shares best practices for supporting students learning online. Participants leave with a toolkit of resources to bring to your face-to-face classroom into the virtual world. 

The TOT (Teacher Online Training) Course is NCVirtual’s FREE professional development program designed to prepare and support educators as they work in online and remote learning environments.

Please share both programs with the teachers in your school! All educators are welcome to participate! 

Meet the Outreach and Support Team

NCVirtual’s Outreach and Support team is here to help! Visit our Outreach page to learn more about how we can help. 

Virtual Support Center

The Virtual Support Center helps students, e-learning advisors, school and district staff personnel, NCVPS teachers, and parents. Watch our Support Center video for an overview.

January 4, 2022

Closings and Delays

NCVirtual is preparing for school closings and delays due to inclement weather and COVID-19 precautions. We know that when a school’s regular operations are disrupted, it impacts student learning, whether the student is in the traditional classroom or online.

We will follow the same preparedness plan that we have used for inclement weather delays in the past. We will work with state and local leaders as new details emerge.

NCVirtual has the following upcoming semester end dates and start dates that may be impacted:

January 5: Start date for Spring 2022 Early Start classes.

January 7: End date for Fall 2021 Standard Start block classes.

January 18: Start date for Spring 2022 Standard Start classes.

NCVirtual will do the following if inclement weather or COVID-19 disrupts school operations:

• Notify NCVirtual teachers of school closings that are reported to NCVirtual.
• Ensure that NCVirtual teachers have flexible plans for students who cannot access their online courses. Teachers will monitor student logins, remain flexible, and communicate with students about progress and needs.
• Communicate to districts and students any interruption to services that NCVirtual might experience (power outages, sick leave, access issues, etc.). This information will be provided through our website, email, social media, and in Canvas (our learning management system).
• Communicate with teachers to determine which teachers have also been affected by any inclement weather or COVID-19.

Districts should be prepared to do the following:

• Communicate to NCVirtual and/or NCVirtual teachers any school or district closures due to inclement weather. You may open a ticket with our Support Center or email us with your closings.
• Notify students of any services that may be interrupted due to inclement weather or COVID-19 that may affect NCVirtual operations.

Parents and students can do the following:

• Notify their NCVirtual teachers, if possible, if access to courses has been affected due to inclement weather.
• Communicate with the NCVirtual teacher regarding make-up work and testing.

Note that if students have continued access to courses, they may continue working if their situation allows, even if their schools are closed.

Social Studies Courses Added to Spring Catalog

We have added American History 1 and 2 standard and honors courses to our spring catalog. We have also added American History: The Founding Principles, Civics, and Economics standard and honors sections to the catalog.

In our OCS program, we have added American History 1 and 2 and American History: The Founding Principles, Civics, and Economics. Look for “Blended” in the course titles.

December 20, 2021

The NCVirtual staff wishes you a very happy holiday season and great prosperity in 2022!

The sun is setting on another challenging year. To make the state’s virtual program work requires someone like you. Our team wishes you a joyful and warm holiday season.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership. We will “see” you again in 2022! We know students will need all of us again in January, and it’s a special privilege to serve them.

–The Staff at NCVirtual

December 17, 2021

End of Semester Reminders

Our Early Start courses have finished, and Standard Start is winding down with many students finishing their courses already.

Following these steps will help with the success of your students and help you have grades prepared for your final report cards.

Timeline

Here are the end dates and reporting dates for Fall 2021 block courses:

• Last Day of Early Start Classes: Dec. 10, 2021
• Grades Posted for Early Start Classes: Dec. 16, 2021
• Last Day for Standard Start Classes: Jan. 7, 2022
• Grades Posted for Standard Start Classes: Jan. 13, 2022

December 16th Reporting

We will publish two grades reports on December 16:

• Final Grades for Early Start and Standard Start Early Completion
• Progress Grades for Standard Start and Yearlong Courses

If you had Standard Start students finish their courses early, look for their final grades on the Final Grades for Early Start and Standard Start Early Completion report. All other Standard Start progress grades will be reported on the Progress Report for Standard Start and Yearlong Courses. Please remember, for those Standard Start students expected to finish early, we cannot cut off their course access. They have access to January 7, and our teachers will continue to grade any work that they submit. Local schools must drive the early course completion expectation.

EOC and CTE Testing

Schools must administer all EOC and CTE state tests. (Note: Some CTE courses do not have a state test.) Schools will also need to average the EOC and CTE scores into the grades that we post for those courses. If you’ve not already made arrangements with your school’s testing coordinator, please do that right away.

Grades

Our final grade report will show the weighted coursework grade (80%) and the final exam grade (20%) and final grade. EOC and CTE courses will only show the coursework grades. Schools will need to calculate in the EOC and CTE exam grades. Follow this link to see what the final grade report will look like.

NCVPS Grading Policies

You will want to be aware of our grading policy and how we weight grades, especially for state-tested courses where you will need to calculate the final grade once you receive your test scores. Review our Grades Quick Reference Guide to see how we calculate grades.

Report Cards and Transcripts

Schools must enter grades into PowerSchool. Be sure the data manager has access to the grade report and understands our grade calculations. Be sure to examine the spreadsheet closely to find the final grade. This will be essential when your data manager enters NCVPS grades into PowerSchool to avoid data entry errors.

Middle School Reporting

Middle schools should ensure that they use the NCVPS course codes so that their students can receive high school credit for the courses that they take with us. You can find course codes in our catalog, or in the second column of any grade report.

NCAA Eligibility Center

Please see our Reporting NCVPS Classes On Transcripts for the NCAA quick reference guide here. There are some essential reporting steps to take to ensure a student’s NCAA eligibility.

Grade Questions

If you have questions about a student’s grade, you should send those directly to the student’s teacher or submit a help ticket to the Virtual Support Center.

Extensions

We have a five-day extension period for courses. These extensions do not require approval from our Instructional Directors. Instead, schools will work directly with the NCVPS teacher, and the teacher will grant the 5-day extension.

December 8, 2021

Our Early Start classes end on Friday, and final grades will be posted on Dec. 16.

See details below on early course completion requests, our new ELA orientation course, and our new honors-level Economics and Personal Finance course.

Also note that NCVirtual has two dates for final grades this spring: May 12 (Early Start) and May 26 (Standard Start). See the details below.

Early Start Classes End Dec. 10

Our Early Start classes end on Dec. 10. Schools can arrange a short extension to Dec. 17 directly with the NCVirtual teacher. We will post final grades in the NCVirtual registration system on Dec. 16.

Early Start classes end on Friday, Dec. 10. Schools can request a five-day extension for Early Start students. Early Start course extensions will run through Dec. 17.

Course extension requests must come from the school principal, ELA, or another school designee and should be directed to the NCVirtual teacher. The NCVirtual teacher will work with the student granted an extension and relevant stakeholders to ensure the student is supported to complete outstanding assignments during the extension period. Adjusted final grades that reflect the completion of assignments during an extension period will be reported on the following published NCVirtual grade report.

Standard Start Early Course Completion & Final Grades

This fall, we had a process for schools to request an early course completion for students in Standard Start classes. Schools needed to submit the request form for an early completion by Sept. 24. This gave our teachers time to adjust the pacing guide and assignment due dates for those students to finish early, and it gave the students time to adjust to their new accelerated pace. We had fifty schools request an early course completion for their students.

We’ve had a number of schools just recently request early final grades for Standard Start students. Districts, schools, and NCVirtual must remain student-centered in this process. Students must be given adequate time to complete their learning and finish their courses. In this process, we cannot produce final grades on demand.

However, we do have a process that will help some schools. If your school did not submit the early course completion request form, yet you have students who have worked at an accelerated pace and can complete their coursework and final exams by Friday, Dec. 10, NCVirtual teachers will report their final grades on our Dec. 16 Final Grade report. If students have not completed their coursework, teachers will report a progress grade on the Dec. 16 progress report.

Economics and Personal Finance Honors

We have added an honors version of our Economics and Personal Finance course to our catalog. It is available for Early Start and Standard Start this spring.

Spring 2022 Final Grade Report – Choose Your Date!

Starting in our Spring 2022 session, NCVirtual will have a new procedure for receiving final grades based on Early Start or Standard Start enrollments.

First, determine when you need your final grades from NCVirtual. We have two options for you:

May 12

May 26

Next, choose your start date. If you need final grades by May 12, enroll your students in Early Start classes. If you need grades by May 26, enroll in Standard Start (traditional) classes.

Check your Spring 2022 enrollments. If you need final grades by May 12 and have students already enrolled in Standard Start classes, you will need to drop them and enroll them in Early Start classes. If you do not see a course offered in Early Start that you need, open a ticket with our Virtual Support Center and request a section.

New – ELA Orientation!

We are excited to release our new E-learning Advisor Orientation course! This course will help support you in the role of E-Learning Advisor to NC Virtual students. Learn about the funding formula, the registration process, our grading policy, our valuable resources, and how to best support your online students.

Access the E-learning Advisor Orientation today!

Supporting Students Online – Parent Courses

As virtual learning has become a part of everyday learning for most families across North Carolina, many parents, guardians, and mentors continue to struggle with how to support their online learners in blended and online classes. To provide resources and strategies for how to support not only our NCVirtual students, but all online learners in North Carolina, NCVirtual has created two Supporting Online Students (SOS) video courses in Canvas. Both courses are free, open to the public, and do not require login credentials.

The first course, Supporting Online Students – All NC, is general in nature and is designed for parents, guardians, and mentors of any student who is participating in a blended or online course or is enrolled in a fully online program regardless of school or grade level.

The second course, Supporting Online Students – NCVirtual, is specific to NC Virtual and includes specific examples, demonstrations, and resources for NC Virtual parents, guardians, and mentors.

Please share both links with your educational communities and parent networks.

Employment Opportunities

NCVirtual has several employment opportunities, both full-time and part-time. We are hiring an Online Professional Learning Coordinator. The Professional Learning (PL) Coordinator position has specialized and professional duties in planning, developing, and managing activities for educational programs at the local, state, and national levels. Follow the link for details.

We are also hiring teachers and course developers. These are part-time positions. See our current openings on the PowerSchool Applicant Tracking platform.

Professional Development

Looking for online professional development? We have you covered! Check out our new subscription option for joining our professional development mailing list. The subscription button is found on both our Digital Transition page and the Teacher Online Training page.

A Snapshot of NCVirtual Grading Guidelines

We recently published a Snapshot of NCVirtual Grading Guidelines. Please note that NCVirtual teachers must adhere to the NCVirtual grading guidelines, practices, and procedures which can be found in our Grading and Testing Quick Reference Guide. NCVirtual teachers cannot adjust their NCVirtual grading guidelines, practices, and procedures based on a local school’s or district’s policy.

2021-2022 Academic Year Guide

Please visit our 2021-2022 Academic Year Guide for details on registration, enrolling, withdrawing, grades, student guides, parent guides, and more!

November 23, 2021

Spring 2022 Final Grade Report – Choose Your Date!

Starting in our Spring 2022 session, NCVirtual will have a new procedure for receiving final grades based on Early Start or Standard Start enrollments.

First, determine when you need your final grades from NCVirtual. We have two options for you:

May 12

May 26

Next, choose your start date. If you need final grades by May 12, enroll your students in Early Start classes. If you need grades by May 26, enroll in Standard Start (traditional) classes.

Check your Spring 2022 enrollments. If you need final grades by May 12 and have students already enrolled in Standard Start classes, you will need to drop them and enroll them in Early Start classes. If you do not see a course offered in Early Start that you need, open a ticket with our Virtual Support Center and request a section.

Supporting Students Online – Parent Courses

As virtual learning has become a part of everyday learning for most families across North Carolina, many parents, guardians, and mentors continue to struggle with how to support their online learners in blended and online classes. To provide resources and strategies for how to support not only our NCVirtual students, but all online learners in North Carolina, NCVirtual has created two Supporting Online Students (SOS) video courses in Canvas. Both courses are free, open to the public, and do not require login credentials.

The first course, Supporting Online Students – All NC, is general in nature and is designed for parents, guardians, and mentors of any student who is participating in a blended or online course or is enrolled in a fully online program regardless of school or grade level.

The second course, Supporting Online Students – NCVirtual, is specific to NC Virtual and includes specific examples, demonstrations, and resources for NC Virtual parents, guardians, and mentors.

Please share both links with your educational communities and parent networks.

Parent Open Houses

NCVirtual has two upcoming parent orientations. The presentation includes best practices for keeping up to date on your student’s progress and how you can help them finish the semester strong. Find out how NC Virtual supports students beyond the content of the classroom and get answers to your questions.

Audience: Our Parent Orientation is geared to parents and guardians of current NCVirtual students.

Open House dates and times:

November 30 at 6 p.m.

December 2 at 11 a.m.

Visit our Open House page to register.

Employment Opportunities

NCVirtual has several employment opportunities, both full-time and part-time. We are hiring an Online Professional Learning Coordinator. The Professional Learning (PL) Coordinator position has specialized and professional duties in planning, developing, and managing activities for educational programs at the local, state, and national levels. Follow the link for details.

We are also hiring teachers and course developers. These are part-time positions. See our current openings on the PowerSchool Applicant Tracking platform.

Professional Development

Looking for online professional development? We have you covered! Check out our new subscription option for joining our professional development mailing list. The subscription button is found on both our Digital Transition page and the Teacher Online Training page.

 A Snapshot of NCVirtual Grading Guidelines

We recently published a Snapshot of NCVirtual Grading Guidelines. Please note that NCVirtual teachers must adhere to the NCVirtual grading guidelines, practices, and procedures which can be found in our Grading and Testing Quick Reference Guide. NCVirtual teachers cannot adjust their NCVirtual grading guidelines, practices, and procedures based on a local school’s or district’s policy.

2021-2022 Academic Year Guide

Please visit our 2021-2022 Academic Year Guide for details on registration, enrolling, withdrawing, grades, student guides, parent guides, and more!

NCVirtual E-lert

See our full e-lert for November 23, 2021 here.

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